Догмат

If anyone had said that true faith is the right content and the confession of right dogmas, he would have told the truth. For the faithful certainly need Orthodox content and confession of dogmas. But this knowledge and confession alone does not make a person a faithful and true Christian. The content and confession of Orthodox dogmas always lies in true faith in Christ, but true faith in Christ does not always lie in Orthodox confession. For one thing is knowledge and confession of faith, and another thing is faith in Christ. Knowledge of right-wing dogmas is present in the mind and is often fruitless, arrogant and arrogant. Therefore, it happens that many who have knowledge of dogmas actually live lawlessly. Many preach the faith, teach, instruct others and show the way to salvation, but they themselves do not follow this path, like pillars placed on the path, which from city to city show the way to those walking, but they themselves stand motionless. Therefore, this knowledge, confession and teaching does not benefit them. True faith in Christ is in the heart... And it is fruitful, humble, patient, full of love, merciful, philanthropic, compassionate, hungers and thirsts for righteousness (see Matt. 5:6). She moves away from worldly lusts and cleaves to God alone, always strives and seeks the heavenly and eternal, fights against all sin and constantly seeks and asks for help from God... If you confess, Christian, one God, that’s good. But do you believe in God with your heart, as the Apostle teaches: with the heart one believes for righteousness, and with the mouth one confesses for salvation (Rom. 10:10)? Without heartfelt faith, verbal confession is nothing more than hypocrisy. An oral confession can be a sign of faith, but the sign can be false if the life of the confessor contradicts the faith. Oral confession follows from faith, as from a thought conceived in the mind - a word, according to what was said: I believed, and therefore I spoke (Ps. 115: 1). But true faith is not always proven by oral confession, just as the word does not always resemble the thought. For it often happens that people do not say what they have in their hearts, just as those who confess God do not think and do what is in their hearts, what the confession of faith teaches. They confess God with their lips, but in their hearts and deeds they reject Him. They preach God with their lips, but in their hearts they say: there is no God (Ps. 13:1). You call God Father, Lord, King, Protector and Helper, as in the Lord’s Prayer, psalms and other songs the faithful pray and sing to Him - well, this is a sign of faith. He is the faithful - Father, Lord, King, Protector and Helper. But look, are you trying to show obedience to Him as the Father and have morals similar to Him? For the son is like the father. Do you serve Him as your Lord? Do you not serve mammon and other idols? Doesn't sin reign over you when you call Him your King? Do you not seek protection and help from the sons of men and other creatures? Hear that God speaks through the prophet about oral confession, but not from the heart, and about such with which the heart does not agree: these people draw near to Me with their lips, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me (Matthew 15:8; Isaiah 29:13). You say: “I believe in Christ, the Son of God,” - good. But do you accept His holy Gospel with your heart? Do you follow His teaching as written in the Gospel? Aren't you ashamed of His humility, poverty, and patience? Do you carry your cross, which He offers to all the faithful: if anyone wants to follow Me, deny himself, and take up your cross, and follow Me (Matthew 16:24)?.. Not the faithful servant of Christ who confesses Christ with his lips, but the one who believes in Christ with his heart, and is not ashamed of Him and His words, follows His humility, poverty, patience and meekness, as He Himself teaches us: learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart (Matthew 11:29) - and bears his cross, and remains faithful until death. You say: “I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord,” - good. But see if you are not resisting the Holy Spirit with hardness of heart and unrepentant life, as Saint Stephen denounces the Jews: stiff-necked! people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! you always resist the Holy Spirit (Acts 7:51). You say: “I believe in the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church,” - good. But look, are you a true member of the holy Church? She is holy, sanctified and sanctified by the Blood of Christ, the Son of God (Eph. 5:26–27), serving Him in holiness and righteousness before Him (Luke 1:75). Do you preserve the holiness that was given to you by faith in Baptism (see 1 Cor. 6:11)? If you lost it through negligence, do you seek it through repentance, a change of life and faith? Do you shun all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, practicing holiness in the fear of God (2 Cor. 7:1)? If you don’t have this, then you are not a member of the Holy Church. The Church is holy and blameless (Eph. 5:27), therefore, and its members should be holy and blameless. You say: “I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the next century,” well, this is a sign of hope. But look, don’t you have morals that show that there is no resurrection of the dead? Don't you live like animals and cattle, who do only what they want and imagine their feelings, at the death of which the spirit disappears? Are you doing things that close the door to eternal life? “Do not be deceived,” says the apostle, “neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor fools, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God (1 Cor. 6:9-10; Gal. 5:19-21).